The Perseverance Mission – Looking for Life on Mars ORGANIZER Venn Diagram You Will Be Practicing Making Notes Using a Venn Diagram

Science, Technology, and the Environment The Perseverance mission – Looking for Life on Mars ORGANIZER Venn Diagram You will be practicing making notes using a Venn diagram. Th is structure is helpful in comparing and contrasting two or more issues, topics, or points-of-view. It helps you examine similarities and diff erences so you can draw conclusions or create new ideas, perspectives, or opinions. You will use the article “Th e Perseverance Mission – Looking for Life on Mars” to compare and contrast the physical characteristics of Earth and Mars that support life. BEFORE READING • Record the topic and purpose for reading on the Venn diagram. Th en, list what you already know about the topic of the article, Looking for Life on Mars, in the left -hand column. In the right-hand column, write what you want to know or wonder about the topic. For example, What do NASA scientists hope to ﬁ nd? Does this mission have astronauts on board? DURING READING • As you read the article be mindful of questions that arise. Mark the text with a ? each time a new question pops into your head. Write the question in the margin. For example, in the second paragraph you may wonder why it took almost eight months for Perseverance to reach Mars. • Also, make connections. Identify connections with the letters T-S (text-to-self), T-T (text-to-text), or T-W (text-to-world) and make brief notes in the margin to explain the connections. For example, in the second paragraph you and your family may have watched the video as Perseverance touched down on Mars (a text-to-self connection). Or you may remember reading about past Mars missions (a text-to-text connection). • Distinguish relevant facts and arguments supporting the existence of life on Mars, as you compare them to life on Earth. Mark the text with a + for facts and arguments that support the existence of life on Mars and a - for those facts and arguments that are still unknown and need to be proven. For example, the fact that “Mars did indeed have abundant water on its surface in times long past” supports the argument that there may have been life on the planet. AFTER READING • Use the Venn diagram to make notes about the physical characteristics of Earth and Mars. Label the circles Earth and Mars. • To help you organize your notes (and compare the similarities and diff erences more clearly) label each section of the Venn diagram with the following categories: physical geography, climate, water, and oxygen. • Record diff erences for each category in the outside circles and similarities in the overlapping circles. • When you have fi nished recording facts, complete the What I think now section of the organizer. Use the following questions to guide your response: What surprised you about what you read? What new learnings or connections did you make? What questions do you still have? What are your reactions to the information in the article?

2020/2021: Issue 7 What in the world? Level 1 Page 41 Science, Technology, and the Environment The Perseverance mission – Looking for Life on Mars What I wonderWhat • • What I think now I think What What I already know I already What • • Purpose for reading: Purpose Topic:

2020/2021: Issue 7 What in the world? Level 1 Page 42 Science, Technology, and the Environment The Perseverance mission – Looking for Life on Mars

On February 18, dozens failed. For this one to work, a of scientists were glued to tricky series of manoeuvres had Moon to Mars their screens at the National to unfold. It took true precision Th is is NASA’s 49th mission to Aeronautics and Space to get Percy to the Red Planet, the Red Planet. Nine missions Administration (NASA) control but everything went right. landed on the surface. Four included rovers. Th e most recent centre. Th ey were watching the Phew! fi nal moments of a landing on was the Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars in 2012. Mars. High-defi nition video “I can’t even describe it, how showed the rocky surface getting happy you feel in that moment. I Th e Mars 2020 Perseverance closer as a vessel descended. was screaming and jumping for Mission is part of NASA’s Th en they heard the words happiness,” said Farah Alibay. broader Moon to Mars project. “Touchdown confi rmed.” Th ey Dr. Alibay, a Quebec-born It includes establishing a base leapt to their feet and punched engineer, is part of NASA’s team. and sustainable human presence on the Moon, and using what is the sky in glee. Perseverance set to work right learned for the next giant leap – Th e spacecraft held a one-tonne, away, taking pictures. Th e sending astronauts to Mars. car-sized rover named images showed a dusty, rocky, Perseverance (‘Percy’ for short). desolate, alien landscape. examined meteorites found on Earth that originated on Mars. Percy launched from Earth on Soon the rover was sending July 30, 2020. It navigated some audio recordings, too. For the From this data, we know Mars 470 million kilometres to Mars, fi rst time, humans could listen is a rocky planet like ours. It travelling at 19,000 kilometres to the sound of wind on Mars. has environments a lot like per hour. Th en, it plunged into What we've learned some places on Earth. Iceland, the Martian atmosphere. Antarctica, the Atacama Desert Landing on Mars is no Most of what we already know in Chile, Arizona, and Hawaii cakewalk. About half of NASA’s about Mars comes from decades all have regions similar to some previous Mars missions have of data collected by telescopes places on Mars. and spacecraft . We have also Definitions meteorite: a piece of rock that has fallen from space and landed on the ground

2020/2021: Issue 7 What in the world? Level 1 Page 38 Science, Technology, and the Environment The Perseverance mission – Looking for Life on Mars So far, all the rocks and minerals But NASA knows that Mars did that could truly prove microbial identifi ed on Mars are also have lots of surface water billions life once existed are too large found on Earth. Th e rock is of years ago. Some liquid may and complex to send to Mars. mostly igneous basalt. Basalt still be trapped in minerals in So for now, the rover will collect is the most common rock on the planet’s crust. So the search promising samples. It will encase the Earth’s surface. It makes up for microbe fossils intensifi ed. them in tubes and leave them on large parts of the ocean fl oor. Percy’s ‘To Do’ list the planet’s surface to be brought to Earth at a future date. Like Earth, Mars has an Th e rover landed in Jezero atmosphere, crust, mantle, and Crater. Jezero is a bowl-like Perseverance will also test core. It has two moons. Th e depression some 49 kilometres whether future astronauts could extremely thin atmosphere across. Scientists think that more extract oxygen from the Martian exposes the planet to dangerous than 3.5 billion years ago, river atmosphere. Th is oxygen would levels of ultraviolet space channels spilled over the crater be used for breathing and for radiation. Mars has four seasons. wall to form a large lake. Jezero fuel. As well, the rover will Th e average temperature? A also has a well-preserved imprint try to fi nd a good location for chilly minus 63 degrees Celsius. of a delta. Th ere, a river once left deploying Ingenuity. Ingenuity Signs of life? layers of rocks and sand. is a small, robotic helicopter that made the trip to Mars attached Geologists found the oldest Th e delta is a prime place to fi nd to the rover’s belly. known Mars rock in Antarctica. signs of microbial life. So are the It is called Meteorite ALH84001. minerals left like a bathtub ring NASA wants to see if a Scientists believe that the around the crater’s shoreline. helicopter can fl y in Mars’s thin meteorite formed 4.1 billion atmosphere. Th at atmosphere is Now, astronomers, biologists, years ago. How? An asteroid or just one percent the density of geologists, and physicists will comet likely collided with Mars Earth’s. Th at makes it harder for work together searching for and blasted out a crater. a helicopter to generate the lift ‘biosignatures’ in the rocks. required to get off the ground. Meteorite ALH84001 has Biosignatures provide evidence sparked much debate. In 1996, of ancient life. Tiny fossils on Dr. Alibay says her work with NASA hinted that it might have the planet’s surface were likely NASA has been a privilege. She found signs of microscopic destroyed over hundreds of hopes to help solve a question fossils inside the two-kilogram millions of years. However, some people have asked for thousands rock. Th e evidence wasn’t may be trapped in rocks beneath of years: Does life exists “absolute proof” of past Martian the surface. Percy’s robotic arm elsewhere in the universe? life, but some scientists felt that has a drill to remove buried rock “[Being] part of a team that it pointed in that direction. and soil samples. might start to answer that Not everyone agreed. Life needs Percy will deploy cameras, x-ray question… that is pretty water and there are no lakes, beams, and laser guns to probe incredible,” she says. J rivers, or seas on the Red Planet. the rocks. Scientifi c instruments Definitions delta: an area of land, like a triangle in shape, where a river igneous: produced under conditions involving intense heat has split into several smaller rivers before entering the sea microbes: tiny living things such as bacteria, viruses, fungi

2020/2021: Issue 7 What in the world? Level 1 Page 39 Science, Technology, and the Environment The Perseverance mission – Looking for Life on Mars COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS 1. What does NASA stand for?

2. What did NASA scientists celebrate on February 18?

3. Describe Perseverance's journey from Earth to Mars.

4. Where did this rover land?

5. Why did NASA choose this location?

6. Describe Percy and what it can do.

7. What technology and equipment will Percy use to complete its mission?

8. What is Ingenuity?

9. What does NASA want to test with this machine?

2020/2021: Issue 7 What in the world? Level 1 Page 40 Science, Technology, and the Environment The Perseverance mission – Looking for Life on Mars QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 1. NASA scientist Dr. Alibay describes her work on the Perseverance mission as a privilege because she will be part of the team that is helping to answer the question of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe. As you see it, why is it important to be able to answer this question? Give specifi c details to support your ideas.

2. Ingenuity, the small robotic helicopter that travelled to Mars attached to the rover's belly, is scheduled to perform a test fl ight sometime in April. If the fl ight is successful, how do you see this technology being used in future missions? Explain.

3. Th e Perseverance Mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars project. Th is project aims to establish a base and sustainable human presence on the Moon, and to use what is learned there to send astronauts to Mars. If you were given the opportunity to live on a base on the Moon, would you take it? Why or why not? What characteristics would be helpful for someone considering living on the Moon?

2020/2021: Issue 7 What in the world? Level 1 Page 43 Science, Technology, and the Environment The Perseverance mission – Looking for Life on Mars QUESTIONS FOR ONLINE EXPLORATION Note: Th e links below are listed at www.lesplan.com/en/links for easy access. 1. Visit this link to learn more about the Perseverance mission: https://www.nasa.gov/perseverance Th en, identify two facts or details that you learned from the site and one question that you still have.

2. NASA has prepared an almost identical twin of the Perseverance rover that is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Visit this site to learn about how this twin is being used to support the Perseverance mission: https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=w-0GMURCDBM [2:20]. What did you discover about Perseverance's twin? Why is it important to have a second model available at NASA? Explain.

3. Th e article talks about a fi eld of science known as astrobiology. Visit the following site to learn more about this fi eld and its applications: https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/career-path-suggestions/ Would astrobiology be a fi eld of study that you might consider? Why or why not? Explain.

4. Ingenuity, the small helicopter that accompanied Perseverance to Mars, is set to be launched in April. Visit the following sites to learn more about this part of the mission: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-prepares-for-fi rst-fl ight https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=2ceFiynmNB0 [3:50]

2020/2021: Issue 7 What in the world? Level 1 Page 44 Science, Technology, and the Environment The Perseverance mission – Looking for Life on Mars INFOGRAPHIC

TERRAIN-RELATIVE �� NAVIGATION �� 1 �� Camera �� takes pictures as rover L��: Perseverance�� descends ��Curiosity�� Terrain-Relative Navigation �� Jezero Crater, JEZERO �� CRATER �� Diameter � Computer compares 45km these to maps of River canyon: area and adjusts Carved by water which flightpath to avoid �� flowed through crater rim hazards 3.5 billion years ago 3 Lander lowers rover as close as possible to target site

�� Crater rim DELTA Shoreline of former lake

�� Edge �� of delta S�� Ancient on rocks from long distance �� Drone-like helicopter carried on Plutonium �� source S��Ultraviolet on another supplies �� spectrometer searches planet Advanced camera �� for organics and to rover �EDA minerals Weather station 1 3

� ��:�� spectrometer to �� elements

S��S�� Rock 1 �� core Ground- �� cuts out core of Martian rock, penetrating Experiment to �� radar to map ��

astronauts might produce 14cm �� 3 surface �� inside rover. Image taken Sample �� will slide S�� Sample tubes will be left into titanium Length �� tube and be Height �� return to Earth by future hermetically Weight �� mission, possibly by 2031 sealed Sources: NASA, Nature, Space.com Pictures: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS © GRAPHIC NEWS

2020/2021: Issue 7 What in the world? Level 1 Page 45 Science, Technology, and the Environment The Perseverance mission – Looking for Life on Mars ANALYZING AN INFOGRAPHIC

What is the purpose of this infographic? Who is the intended audience?

What information is new or interesting? What features are used to clarify the message?

What information is How does the signifi cant or information presented important? enhance your understanding?

What questions do you still have about the topic presented?

2020/2021: Issue 7 What in the world? Level 1 Page 46 Science, Technology, and the Environment The Perseverance mission – Looking for Life on Mars PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER A. Write the letter that corresponds to the best answer on the line beside each question: ______1. How long did it take the Perseverance mission to reach to Mars? a) 6 weeks b) 2 months c) 8 months d) 2 years ______2. What question is NASA trying to answer during this mission? a) is the planet Mars really red? b) does life exist on other planets? c) how long does it take to get to Mars? d) how many lakes are on Mars? ______3. Which of the following tasks is Perseverance scheduled to complete? a) fl ying in the Martian atmosphere b) creating a Google Mars map c) following living organisms d) drilling for soil and rock samples B. Mark the statements T (True) or F (False). If a statement is True, write one important fact to support it on the line below. If a statement is False, write the words that make it true on the line below. ______4. True or False? Very few of NASA's previous Mars missions have failed.

______5. True or False? Biosignatures can provide evidence of ancient life.

______6. True or False? In 1996, scientists found evidence of tiny fossils inside a meteorite from Mars.

C. Fill in the blanks to complete each sentence. 7. NASA = National Aeronautics and ______Administration. 8. Most of the ______already identifi ed on Mars have been igneous basalt. 9. Ingenuity is a small, robotic ______. D. Respond to the following question in paragraph form. (Use a separate sheet of paper if necessary.) 10. As you see it, is space exploration an appropriate use of time and resources? Give reasons to support your response.

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